moth

Definition of moth

7 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.

“Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.”

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noun

Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.

“Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.”
(figuratively)Anything that gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.
(countable, uncountable)A moth bean plant (Vigna aconitifolia).
(Ireland, slang)A girlfriend.
(alt-of, obsolete)Obsolete form of mote.

“So that, dear lords, if I be left behind, / A moth of peace, and he go to the war, / The rites for which I love him are bereft me, / And I a heavy interim shall support / By his dear absence. Let me go with him.”
(dated)A liver spot, especially an irregular or feathery one.

“To remove moth patches, wash the spots with a solution of common bicarbonate of soda and water several times a day, until the patches are removed, which will usually be in forty-eight hours.”
“Craves for sour things, chalks and eggs, fatty people with light brown spots on the face or liver spots, moth patches on forehead and cheek.”
“There are signs of liver affections as weakness, yellow complexion, liver spots, and moth spot like a saddle over the nose.”

verb

(intransitive)To hunt for moths.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English moth, moththe, motthe, moght, mohþe, mouȝte, from Old English moþþe, mohþe, mohþa (“any destructive insect larva”), from Proto-West Germanic *moþþō, *mottō, from Proto-Germanic *muþþô, *muttô (“moth, worm”),…

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From Middle English moth, moththe, motthe, moght, mohþe, mouȝte, from Old English moþþe, mohþe, mohþa (“any destructive insect larva”), from Proto-West Germanic *moþþō, *mottō, from Proto-Germanic *muþþô, *muttô (“moth, worm”), from Proto-Indo-European *mutn-, *mut- (“worm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Motte (“moth”), West Frisian mot (“moth”), Dutch mot (“moth”), German Low German Motte, Mott (“moth”), German Motte (“moth”), Swedish mott (“moth”) and Norwegian Nynorsk mott (“moth”).

Anagrams of moth

1 play · some not in Scrabble

THOM 9 pts

Words you can make from moth

13 playable · top: HOM (8 pts)

Best play hom 8 points

3-letter words

6 words

2-letter words

6 words

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

A single letter you can add to moth to make another valid word.